In preparation for my upcoming trip to Ontario, I am studying the records and searching in Pontiac Co., Quebec and other locations.

When I first started working on the family history back in 1999 you had to go to the National Archives here in the USA and use the microfilm readers. Another option was to drive up to the Cloverdale Library in Surrey, B.C. to use their films in their wonderful genealogical department. Still another other option was the Family History Library films and records.

The census for both Canada and the U.S. was not online back then, so I did the best I could in studying the census to seek out information on Archibald McDonell’s and his siblings.

Recently I took another try at the Canadian census to see what I could find in the online versions at Ancestry.com. If I could find one more living sibling of Archibald it would give me a better chance of finding the origins of the family.

I believe I may have found a brother living next door to Archibald in Sheen township which is north of Chichester township. He is John McDonell an older brother to Archibald.

According to Great Aunt Nellie’s chart for Archibald’s side the siblings were: Ronald, John, Kitty, Angus, Duncan and Sarah. I studied the chart and decided to try for John McDonald the 2nd child. See post dated June 17, 2011 “Nellie’s Charts – Her Father Archie McDonell’s Family.”

John was supposed to have married a Julia (fr) Tebeau and they had Thresa, Sarah, Peter John, Ellen, Duncan, Angus and Julia. So far I have not been able to find any Tebeaus in the area. I have seen Tibeau, Thibeau and other variants with just a few in the Pontiac area. So this slowed me down.

I studied Aunt Miriam’s version of the chart and saw that a daughter Theresa (note spelling change) had married a Hugh Downey and they had migrated to Saskatchewan. They had the following children: Boniface, Anna Mary, Gregory, Gertrude, Ethel and Thomas.

Since the other family members of Archie’s chart did not have the wives names and very little information, I decided to target this couple because of the name Downey and the name Boniface and headed for the Saskatchewan census. I found them living there. My goal was to track backwards in the census to the parents.

I found Hugh Downey and a Theresa living in Humbolt, Saskatchewan in 1911. The name Boniface helped and it wasn’t to hard to find them.

This appeared to be the correct family. I then found a cemetery record for the St. Patrick Roman Catholic Church showing that Hugh Downey, Theresea and Joseph Boniface were buried in the cemetery there.

“The Best of Humbolt” index is online at: http://www.afhs.ab.ca/data/humboldt/humboldt_d.html and on page 269 a young man named “Greg Downey born 23 July 1905, spouse Anne Rath. His parents were Hugh Downey and Theresa MacDonald, children Edna, Yvonne and Eugene.”

Now we go back in time using the Canadian Census to see if I can find Theresa and Hugh. Next stop is the 1901 Canadian Census and I do find Theresa but Hugh is not with her?

Things are looking hopeful, even though Teresa is listed as a lodger rather than a member of the family. We also have two of the children: Anne and Gertrude. We see that Julia is widowed. Peter is the name of a brother for Theresa on Nellie and Miriam’s charts. He is now Head of the family.

Back to the 1891 Canadian census and we find the Julia McDonald Family living in Sheen:

Apparently John died between 1871 and 1881. I had made a note where I kept finding the name LaCour rather than the Tebeau name. I pondered that Nellie and Miriam may have made a mistake about her name or guessed? Remember the date on the charts is 1932 and Nellie had left the area in 1901. Her parents had been gone 20 years when these charts were created.

According to Nellie and Miriam’s chart John McDonald was a shoemaker. Theresa is not in this census and that would be appropriate if she was born 19 Nov. 1868 per her tombstone.

John McDonald would have been born in 1833 in L.C. which is Quebec. The 1871 census we see he is 42 and that means he was born in 1829? So if Archibald was born in U.C. (still unclear) then this means the family moved around?

I was unable to locate this family of John McDonald in the 1851 Canadian census. I was unable to locate Archibald as well in that census for the Pontiac Co., Quebec area.

There is a tombstone in the St. Paul the Hermit Roman Catholic cemetery in Sheen that is very interesting but confusing. I think it is this couple! Julia is now with the last name of Record and I am not familiar with the son named Charles who is not listed on Nellie’s chart.

It reads: In Memory of John McDonald died May 11, 1872 aged 42 y’rs and his wife Julia Record, died May 11, 1904, aged 72 y’rs and their two sons John & Charles. No. 7 at this link which are Steve Naylors tombstone photos that were moved after his death in 2011. http://www.gravemarkers.ca/quebec/pontiac/sheen/page0003.htm This is for Pontiac.

UPDATE These links have moved, try the Canadian Tombstone project in Google, 4/12/2013

I am still working on this family but I do believe I have found my great-grandfather Archibald’s brother John McDonald. In review, the children of John and Julia McDonald:

1. Mary Jane McDonald born about 1857 and married an Isaac Moor in 1893. (Cousin provided.)

2. Peter McDonald born 30 Apr. 1859 in Quebec may have married a Mary according to the 1911 census.

3. Sarah McDonald born about 1861 in Quebec married a John Brennon and had Minnie, John, Julia and Hillary and migrated up to North Bay, Nipissing, Ontario per the 1911 Canadian Census.

4. John McDonald born about 1862 and died in Dawson City, Yukon Territory in about 1898.

5. Ellen Catherine McDonald born about 1864 and married a Narcisse Frederick Perrault son of August Perrault and Elizabeth McCormac on 17 July 1893 in Sheen.

6. Duncan McDonald born about 1866 in Quebec, married a Catherine Teresa Leahey

7. Theresa McDonald whom I followed back in the census and gave information above. They had Anna Mary, Gertrude, Ethel, Joseph Boniface, Gregory and Thomas. They migrated to Saskatchewan.

8. Angus McDonald born 18 Nov. 1870 in Quebec, married Ida Mary Perrault and had Elenor, Cecile and Andrew. He is buried in the cemetry at St. Paul the Hermit in Sheenboro.

9. Julianne McDonald born about 1873 and married Frank Malone.

I am finding some deaths, marriages and births in the Drouin records for St. Alphonsus and Sheen and will be adding more to this family history. Hopefully when I visit the Pontiac and Renfrew County in the Spring, I will learn more. I have not found a marriage record for Julia and John McDonald in the area.

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About BJ MacDonald

Interested in travel, really into genealogy and researching my family history, classic novels and movies, fantasy and science fiction, photography, history and more...
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4 Responses to A Discovery: Archie’s brother John McDonell, living next door in Sheen?

My name is Ed Eaton, the Downey’s are part of my family tree. I grew up on a farm 3 miles from the Downey farm then being worked by Hugh’s son Greg.

The other Downey family you mention were my greatgrandparents and my gggrandfather. Hugh was John Downey’s cousin. I believe he was one of the many children of Michael’s brother John. My ggggranfather was also named John and he had worked on the Rideau Canal and was one of the early settlers of Sheenboro, PQ.

In 1905-06 this area of Saskatchewan was opened up to homesteaders. A priest named John Sinnett encouraged Irish Catholic settlers to homestead in this area which was called the Irish Colony, later renamed Sinnett. He had once been the parish priest in Sheenboro before going west. Most of the early settlers in this area were from Sheenboro or had connections to Sheenboro or from Renfrew County.

You mentioned going to a cemetery which I believe is St. Pats. You Saw the graves of the Hugh Downey family there. There are McDonalds buried there or in St Ignatius, six miles south. Ambrose McDonald came from the Ottawa Valley, he was the brother-in-law of my greatgrandfather, John Downey.. There are still McDonald’s in the area.

Ed: Welcome, thanks for stopping by. You think Hugh might be a son of a brother of Michael. A cousin has him as a son of a Thomas Downey. I have more work to do on this family but as usual I have been sidetracked. It was with Hugh and Theresa’s move to Sinnett and that area of Saskatchewan that I learned about this migration to that area. Theresa is a daughter of my great grandfather Archie’s brother John which I finally made a connection to in Sheenboro. A descendant of Ambrose McDonald on my great grandmother contacted me and told me about Ambrose migrating there and this has opened up an interesting thought that I need to expand my net and searching for Archie’s other siblings. I have not yet been to Saskatchewan so I have not been to the St. Pat cemetery, I just found information on it online. The descendant of Ambrose also made other comments that sent me back to that St. Pat cemetery online reading and I was very excited about finding more McD’s in this area. So no I have not seen their graves yet. HA! Ambrose is the son of Duncan and Elizabeth (Sauve) McDonald and brother of my great grandmother Mary. Duncan and Mary are children of Alexander John and Ellen McPherson McDonell. I will contact you via your email so we can chat some more. This is so very interesting. Thanks again. Bonnie

Things to Ponder!

The header photo is of the St. Alphonsus Catholic Church and Cemetery in Chapeau, Quebec.

The OGS (Ontario Genealogical Society) Online Newsletter for October 15, 2016 has a great article on the Toronto Library where their collection has been moved to. How to access it and the documents. OGS was given a tour of the new facilities. I was at the North York on my trip to Canada and that is now closed with the collection moved to the main library. They don't discuss parking but that could be an issue.

It is with sadness I report that the Chanute Air Museum is closing for good. I am so glad I visited this museum on the base where my Dad, Keith, spent his time learning his craft of airplane mechanic. August 12, 2016

NEWER PAGES HAVE BEEN ADDED TO THE TOP OF THE BLOG UNDER THE PHOTO CHECK IT OUT!!!! They are drop down so hover your mouse.

Timeline for World War II

This timeline has been moved to a page at the top of this blog under His Love of Airplanes.

World War II ended in September 2, 1945.

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